Education Perspectives

Schools Lag Behind

A post by Stephen Denning which highlighted a talk by Rachel Botsman pointedly captured my interest.  Rachel speaks about the changing face of consumerism.  Her focus is on how social networking and other collaborative internet sites are moving our world from ownership to user-ship.  She speaks of an emerging and even more connected society.

 

There is a major paradigm shift happening, yet the American educational system remains principally in the industrial age.  Most school districts ban the use of electronic devices, yet, today’s students are connected to one another by that very medium.  Rather than accept and deal with the reality of the new world, schools react by setting stringent rules that don’t allow for flexibility.  Schools still retain the culture that they hold the information and students need to go to school to get it.  In reality, information is now everywhere and schools need to be places where students learn new and creative ways to use that information.

The trend is changing in our school systems, but the mentality of our system isn’t changing fast enough to effectively serve our students.  More rules are not the answer.  Schools must fully embrace emerging collaborative society in order to prepare students for the new world.

The Power of Pull

I just finished reading an interesting book; “The Power of Pull, How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion”, by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison.  As I’ve said, we are in a world of reset, and things will never be the same again. 

This book begins on the premise that the world is changing, becoming more complex and is decidedly unpredictable.  It delves into these changes from the perspective of the individual, the institution and the world at large:

• More dependence on knowledge flows – less dependence on knowledge stocks
• More collaboration – less (or at least different) competition
• A leveraged approach vs. a straight-line approach
• More open organizations – less hierarchical organizations
• Independent thinking
• The leveraging power of social networks

Former President Bill Clinton sums it up; “The Power of Pull examines the how question – how can we effectively address our most pressing challenges in a rapidly changing and independent world?  In the Power of pull, (the authors) highlight fascinating new ways in which passionate thinking, creative solutions, and committed action can – and will – make it possible for us to seize opportunities and remain in step with change.”

This book is deep, but definitely worth reading!  Stop for a moment and think about the implications these perspectives have with relation to our school system(s).

Classroom Leadership

I just watched a wonderful TED Talk by Italy Talgam.  A former conductor, Mr. Talgam has reinvented himself as a conductor of people in business. 

While viewing it, I began thinking about the ultimate facilitators and leaders of the world, teachers!  With good leadership skills, teachers can become masters of what I call "discover-ology"; they let students find learing from within.  How much better is that than teachers who try only to impart information.  I call them "lecture-ologists". 

I've often witness "discover-ology" in a math class where I work.  The teacher inspires learning.

This talk is indeed inspiring as well.  Mr. Talgam's metaphor is indeed fitting.

Hands-On Learning with Video Games

Here is a great video about hands-on learning through video games. Thanks to Dan Pink for this great piece. 

Intrinsic Motivation

Below is a TED talk by Dan Pink.  He advocates an approach toward motivating people that has a firm basis in science.  The implications toward education are enormous!

A Beginner's Mind

"In the mind of a beginner there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few" - Shunryo Suzuki-Roshi

The beginner's mind is a Zen philosophy I embrace, and I believe it has deep implications for education. This philosophy is reflected in Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk, in Ben Zander's book "The Art of Possibility", and by Garr Reynolds in his Presentation Zen blog, to name just a few. 

Do you remember how you viewed the world when you were a child?  Compare that to your thought processes as an adult.  When we are children, everything seems possible.  Then, through life and education, "possibility" becomes increasingly narrow.  The education system is designed to teach us the analytics of life...eliminating the impossible to get to the possible.  Many of us then begin to view everything in the world within that narrow thought process.  We forget what Ben Zander calls "the art of possibility".  We come to allow fear of error to consume our thinking.

What makes people successful isn't the fact that they did everything right.  For the most part, successful people have made mistakes, sometimes large ones, yet still went on to be successful.  Difference is that generally, successful people learned from their mistakes.  When fear of error consumes our thoughts, possibility becomes scarce!  That's something I struggle with, as do many of us.

In looking at local school test scores in this mornings local paper, it occured to me that our educational system is focused almost entirely on not making mistakes, on getting the right answer.  In fact, schools need to be the place where mistakes are not only tolerated, but celebrated.  Because mistakes create the possibility for learning.  Real creative thought involves asking the right questions.  Tom Chapin did a video "Not on the Test" which I posted on Fresh Perspectives.  It is a bit extreme, but illustrates the need for change. 

We are indeed short-changing our kids.  Less bureaucracy, less "No Child Left Behind", and less government interference is a good start.  Analytics are important, but fostering creative thinking is important as well.  American education is out of balance.

Influences - Broad Strokes

Three people had influenced me and helped form my notions about the changes needed in the American education system.  In this post, I'd like to paint in broad strokes the direction you can expect from this blog.

Sir Ken Robinson did a talk at TED that was entertaining but more importantly, made sense.  Worth 18 minutes of your time.

One of the best books I've read was Dan Pink's "A Whole New Mind".  It clearly shows how creativity will be as important as analytical skills.  Our educational system must change!  Check out his website.

My most recent read was Matt May's "In Pursuit of Elegance".  It isn't a book about education, but the ideas Matt generates have a correlation to the changes needed to make the American educational system world-class. 

You'll be reading about my insights in future posts.  But these three people form the broad stroke basis for many of my ideas.